The Dickinson press., 1887-10-22
AMERICAN LEATHER.
AN INDUSTRY DRAWING ON VARI-
GUS PARTS OF THE EARTH.


The Most Favorable Places for Tanning.
| The Supply of Oak and Henlock
Bark-Thc Importation of Hides from
| South America.
No industry. perhaps draws on various
| portions OF the earth to greater extent than
leather rmakng. Leather production is not
thing confined to manufacturing centers
The main feature of the business is bringing
together hides and hemlocl and oak bark, and
pretty wild countries will suffice to produce
these. We find the Argentine Republic and
Brazil and our own western plains, including
Texas in the lead in respect to hides. In the
production of the barks which provide the
requisite taunin the United States is easily
foremost.
Where hcmlocls trees abound are the most
favorable places for tanning, and the largest
taiincrlcs i'll this country arc now in western
Pennsylvania and eastern Tennessee. The
main item of expense i'll obtaining bark is in
cutting roads TO brn. it out of tie woods.
HemlocE trees frequently yield ten to fifteen
tons of bark to the ncrc, while the yield of
oak trees is two or three tons. a low con-
tract price for hcmlock bark by the year is
est tanncreS of this country are owned in
this city, and it is here that the greatest
amount OF business is done, Boston coming
next. Probably the largest oak tannery in
tho United States is at Chattanooga, Tenn,
and the largest hcmlock tanncry in Mexican
| county, Pa, very close to tho state line at
Limestone, n. y. On account of the OK
hauStion of the bark the business of tanning
IS not permanent one ona largo scale at
any particular place. \ tanners business is
not safe until his plant has been paid for out
of his profits, aud he is free to select a more
eligible site if he desires.
Hcmlock bark is becoming rapidly ex-
lmusted in this country, and it will not take
much more than generation, if the business
should be pushed, to practically exhaust it.
The supply of hemlocl bnrk, unlike that Of
oak, cannot be newly created The average
ago of trees from which hcmlock bark is
taken is perhaps $50 years, varying from $50
to 600 years. Oak trees can be grown for
bark in twenty years. The oak tree now
most relied upon is the ''chcstnut oak" of the
south, known as the rock oak in the north.
This grows ON the Appalachian chain of
mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee,
and north and south of this locality in SEEM
ingly cxha,stless quantities. Much of thi,
mountainous country seems worthless for
anything else but timber growing, and with
oak trees yielding bark in twenty years this
country ought to he sure of supply for all
time. AS it is now our hemlock forests arc
being rapidly 'lcnrtled of their bark, that we
may supply the rest of the world with cheap
leather.
Economically the leather trade stands on
its own footing, hides come in free Of duty.
and while there is small duty on sole
leather, there is SO little need to import it on
account of the superior facilities Of this
country for making it that such duty is of
little account. On the othor hand, the trade
| OF this country suffers from duties imposed
| in other countries.
| Notwithstanding its advantages in manu-
featuring leather, tho United States has
never graspcd it in building up an important
ex!ort trade in boots and shoes. There are
large establishments in England and Switzer-
land that do abusness Of this kind for foreign
countries alone. One establishment, cx-
cl,isivcly for export in Switzerland, employs
l,4oo people, importing its leather and ma
chinery largely from the United States They
lave made these businesses by studying
closely tile wants and prejudices of those
whom they seek to sell to, and the favoring
conditions of exchange and transportation
have done the rest.
In addition to the importation of htles from
Brazil and the Argentine Republic, referred
to, n great many other countries of tho world
do business Of this kind with the United
States. Among them may bo mentioned the
Central American states, the countries of tho
Spanish main, different parts OF tho African
continent, and, quite largely in recent years,
India and China The best hides, perhaps,
known in this market come from Chill. The
great supply comes from our western plains,
where tho business of stock raising has
reached such magnitude. Tho Spanish cattle
which arc now raised throughout South
Amcrica, and are also found largely in Texas,
afford the best raw material for tho great
staple of this tra'lc-scle leather In higher
grades of cattle, now generally raised OH the
western plains, the hides do not have the
thickness of the Spanish breeds
| The increased facilities of railroad trans
portation and the reduced prices tend more
and more to bringing bark to tanneries, and
makes less necessary than heretofore the
movement of tanncrics to places where tho
bark grows. Ilcinlock bark is special prol-
uct OF the north and west, while oak bark is
found more abundan,ly further south Buff
falo is nn important center for hemoclk tan
ming, as are Baltimore and Cincinnati for oak
tanning.-New York Commercial Advertiser